New York State Common to add $3 billion to sustainable investment program

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said Friday that the New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, would commit another $3 billion to its sustainable investment program, bringing the total to $10 billion.

"I'm determined to keep New York state's pension plan well-funded and invested in the emerging low-carbon global economy," said Mr. DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the $209.2 billion pension fund, in a news release.

The $3 billion will be allocated as investments are identified, said Matthew Sweeney, a spokesman for Mr. DiNapoli, in an email. "The funding source will be identified depending on the timing of each opportunity."

The pension fund's sustainable investment program includes more than $4 billion in its low-emissions index, which launched in January 2016. "The index eliminates or reduces the fund's public equity investments in companies with high emissions of greenhouse gases and increases investments in lower-emitting corporations," the news release said.

The pension fund also has put about $3 billion in an assortment of sustainable investments "that address a variety of themes, including clean energy and green infrastructure," the release said. The additional $3 billion complements this effort, Mr. Sweeney wrote.